Tunnel (2016)

Tunnel surprised me. I had barely glanced at the cover when we picked it up, and put it on figuring it would be good background noise for reading my book.

Well, the book didn't get read, but the movie did get watched.

I liked how quickly it leaped right into things. No real build up, no explaining things, just suddenly this person is in a horrible situation, and now you've got to watch to see how it unfolds.

There were a few humorous moments that injected some needed levity. Only one of them actually felt forced, and that was toward the beginning of the film so it was pretty easy to overlook.

Within minutes of getting into this, I found myself texting one of my friends and telling her what was happening in the movie. Then texting my partner and telling him that Tunnel was one of the better movies we'd rented in a long time.

This is a well-shot, well-acted movie. While it didn't blow me away, it did manage to get me completely wrapped up in it. Definitely worth watching!

Fmovies: t doesn't seem long ago when Korean film makers were dazzling the world with prizewinners at International festivals such as Oldboy and Pieta. As well as these harsh ,violent films there were gentle odes to Buddhism (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring) and the magnificent Untold Scandal, which set the story of Dangerous Liaisons in the Joseon Dynasty period.

South Korea has one of the strongest national film industries of any country, but they haven't had an international hit for several years. Many of its most acclaimed directors have either gone of the rails (kim Ki Duk) or made films for America (Park Chan Wook and Joon- ho Bong.

I watched Tunnel at Wimbledon cinema (shown there because of the large Korean community in New Malden). Although it was a perfectly decently-made film I wondered why it was so unusually bland. If it hadn't for the frequent jabs at the Korean government, or references to recent safety disasters such as the Sewol Ferry sinking, this could have been a Hollywood blockbuster.

Driving to work one morning, car salesmen (Jung-soo) finds himself spending longer than he would to like at a gas station when an old man mishears him and puts to much petrol in his car. On they way, he calls his wife Se-hyun and tells her he has bought a cake for his daughter's birthday (why is it always the kid's birthday in these films?) Then, as he enters the tunnel, he is caught in the middle somewhere when a rockslide causes the tunnel to collapse.

Luckily, he can still make communication with the outside world because his phone still has 82% battery; and even 150 metres underground he always has a perfect mobile phone reception. Calls are made between him and wife Seohyun, as well as the head of the rescue operation Dae-kyoung (O-dal su).

MV5BMjE3ODYwODE2OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMjM5ODA2OTE@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182, 268_AL_

I'm not sure why anyone would want to make a film about a man stuck in a tunnel. The possibility of doing anything new with it are so small. There's little in the way of tension. Although film tries to show the lack of water and how he must carefully ration at each ho The film only really becomes exciting when he learns that the tunnel is to be re-built after the chances of finding him alive are considered to low. Then he has to race against time to find his way out), although why he didn't think of this before I have no idea.

Bae Doona has little to do in this film and we don't learn anything about their relationship beside the fact that they have a four-year old daughter. The film contains some humour (usually towards the incompetence of the tunnel builders who couldn't remember how many ceiling fans they had put in) and there's even a cute dog who has somehow survived under the fallen rubble.

It looks like this film is one for Koreans only.

Rating: 5/10

The title says it all. Then I read its synopsis and right away I knew how much should I expect from it. Because this might be a fresh attempt in the Korean film, at least for the first time I'm seeing in a Korean film, but not from the world cinema. Yeah, I have seen plenty, and I'd liked most of them. But this film was much, much better than it had been rated in the internet. The story, the main event starts without wasting any time. There's no initial developments like intros. When the thriller-adventure parts commences, reveals everything you have to know.

Just over 2 hours long, the story frequently switches back and forth to where a man got trapped in a collapsed tunnel road and the outside where people and rescue team gathered. Like any other similar themed film, it borrowed a handful of clichés, but still you can witness the effort for the avoidance. Like if you see something or someone's crucial part come into play, usually you would predict what might happen to it in the later part of the story. Since those are unavoidable, they simply skipped in the final act as it is understandable and not to waste developing them to some extent.

So a man is fighting for his survival after a disaster strikes. But he got a cell phone signal buried under a deep mountain that I could not get. Anyway, he does make know his state of condition to the outside world. Soon they all rally to get him out. This film is not entirely a serious episode, despite the theme was. A little bit of satire. If that's how the film was intended or not, at least I had a couple of good laughs. Kind of reminded me 'Peepli (Live)', about the media circus in such situation. But that is the truth, what todays media have become, because of competition among themselves.

❝Don't be weak and say you'll die, just live.❞

The trapped man has to make sure about food and water to survive till the rescue team reaches him down which could take a week or more. Yeah, they kind of mention the recent Chile event which was made into the film, 'The 33'. His portion of the story is like the combination of '127 Hours', 'Buried' and of course that Chilean film. There are lots of things happen, you could say twists and turns. Kind of too much at some point, the way they added more contents to it, but decently it all worked out.

Meanwhile, on the outside world, not lags behind. It has its own set of characters and its circumstance events. Lots of fun and also highlights wrongs. Particularly like I said, the media and how politicians make use of such incident for publicity. And the final one about the construction firms and their shoddy works for profits. They have dug on these topics, but did not go deeper, because to keep it lighter and entertaining film than all about awareness.

All the way an engaging narrative. Means a long film, but very swiftly told story. Visually, it was a well made film, like everything's looked natural and believable. You could not differentiate the CGI/green screen work and the real objects of those disaster parts. But not the technical details such as drilling or the hollow space where he stays alive. When the narration progresses, it gets even worse, like you would say how could that even possible or just they wanted it that way to end the tale.

A small part of the end kind of skips, but that's good for the film than dragging it for another half an hour. The casting was good, they all performed well, but my favourite was Oh Dal-su

Tunnel fmovies. A husband and father is heading home with his daughter's birthday cake when a tunnel collapses trapping him inside his car.

Disaster movies are meant to be filled with tension and drama. This film did not fail in giving its viewers a healthy dose of both. While it is a bit drawn out, it is a decent movie that I found to be enjoyable. It is hard for me to review disaster movies simply because to have the right amount of tension you need a curiosity as to what might happen next. Knowing too much takes away from the anticipation about what might happen next. So, I'm just gonna be short and sweet about it by saying that it is a good film that had me confidently saying that had I been this fella, I would never have to work again because I would have sued the socks off of everybody.

A man is on his way home when the poorly constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped.

"Tunnel" comes to us from writer-director Seong-hun Kim, who is likely not very well known in the United States, though some fans of Korean cinema may have seen his previous film, "A Hard Day" (2014). The star of "Tunnel" is Jung-woo Ha, who you will most likely recognize from "The Handmaiden" (2016), which is being heavily promoted by Amazon. (Perhaps the PR folks behind "Tunnel" can build off of this?)

This is one of those films that works well because it relies on a very simple plot with a high amount of tension. We have just about the smallest stage possible (the inside of a car), though it does cut to other areas from time to time. (Would it work better if it just stayed in the car? Maybe.) Others have said the film runs a bit too long, and I have to agree. Although you can often make a "slow burn" go for two hours or more, this one may not hold the tension as well as it could. I don't know. Opinions will vary.

"Tunnel" is out now (May 2017) from WellGo, available on DVD. Why it is not being released on Blu-ray is unclear, and the DVD is very much a bare bones affair. While the movie is good enough to stand on its own, there is literally nothing on the disc that would make it an improvement over a streaming option.

Movie: Tunnel (12)

Rating: 4.5/5

I haven't yet seen this director's previous acclaimed film but this one's poster, title, synopsis and trailer attracted me. And THE TUNNEL turns out to be the best survival film apart from TRAIN TO BUSAN.

THE TUNNEL has a great deal of tension throughout. The film's premise is built very well. You do feel the suspense at right moments. The film delivers well on the technical front. The cinematography captures the splendid visuals very well. There aren't any hiccups throughout the entire film and you feel the character's pain.

Ha Jung Woo is super solid in this film. This is his first film I've seen. Doona Bae and Oh Dal Su give terrific performances. The few action sequences are very well shot.

And yes, this didn't let me move from my seat. I kept on watching and enjoying it till the end. It's a film that can be watched again. Full marks to the director Seong Hun Kim for executing a brilliant survival tale with excellence.

Overall, THE TUNNEL is an excellent film that can be seen multiple times for its cinematic excellence and a hard hitting indirect message to all.